Today, vision analysis has a growing impact on production, production control, and quality control issues within many industries. The Diamond and Gem industry is no exception which has adopted digital imaging and vision analysis technology to improve the efficiency of manufacturing processes and improve the quality controlling stations. Examples are the high tech computer measuring devices that have taken over proportion measuring from the classic Proportionscope by the Gemological Institute of America, assignee of the subject application. Powerful computers and high resolution digital images are now available and have triggered the development of more highly sophisticated vision analysis tools and advanced vision analysis software programs.
The theoretical and practical knowledge in the vision industry is vast, but applying these optical tools and vision analysis knowledge to diamond clarity grading is rather new. There are many considerations in capturing a suitable clarity image such as lighting and the cost of hardware. Some of these considerations even involve compromises with how else the image can be used. A detailed image of only the grade setting inclusion may be useful for grading clarity, but capturing the whole diamond allows for a broader range of applications such as placing a more attractive image on a report or capturing symmetry faults. Capturing the whole image is also critical for determining the relative size of the inclusion.
Lighting is a particularly critical issue for the vision analysis of gems. Namely, the lighting must be sufficiently intense for photographing purposes, but must also be directed in a manner that minimizes direct (bright) reflections off crown facets which tend to make images unsuitable for clarity grading. Accordingly, there is currently a need for a method and apparatus for creating “technically correct” images that are also aesthetically lively.